Automobiles have long been one way to express individuality — particularly when customized with aftermarket or even maker-inspired components. Such components or systems often enhance the styling and/or the capability/performance of a common stock vehicle.

This sort of innovation is what the 2018 Digital Manufacturing Challenge seeks to encourage.

For this tenth anniversary installment of the challenge, we wish to revisit the 2008 theme updated to comprehend all of the latest digital tools and techniques available.

As such, student designers are invited to create innovative automotive aftermarket peripherals that integrate and exploit the best of digital design, additive and subtractive tools/technologies to create and showcase your vision of a unique automotive feature or function.

Contestant teams are asked to create virtual prototypes incorporating any mechanical, electrical and/or optical elements, and are encouraged to employ more than just one of the seven available additive manufacturing processes.

Contestants need not build their item, but must recommend and justify through their research and cost-benefit/value analysis, their design, process and material selections to achieve the styling and/or the capability/performance claimed.

Additive manufacturing embraces a considerable variety of materials and processes suitable for directly creating a wide range of 3D models, prototypes, mock-ups, tooling, end-use parts, assemblies and systems/subsystems. The design freedom enabled by additive manufacturing allows the optimization of form, fit and feature/function integration often not possible by other means. Therefore, student designers and engineers are challenged to go beyond the classroom or laboratory and showcase their technical and commercial talents by demonstrating new and creative ways additive manufacturing can add value.

Submit all forms and files prior to the Monday, Feb. 26, 2018, deadline.

Entries will be judged by Monday, March 12, 2018, and winners will be notified shortly thereafter.

An announcement recognizing the runners-up will be made and the winning teams will be expected to give a live 15-minute summary presentation of their entry and be prepared to entertain a question-and-answer session of up to 10 minutes during SME's annual RAPID + TCT event, held April 23-26, 2018, in Fort Worth, Texas.

The winning teams will also be expected to deliver an SME-sponsored webinar presentation of their project entry following RAPID + TCT.

Click the button below to submit your questions regarding the final submission or any other aspect of the competition.